There is an urgent need for cost‐effective strategies to produce hydrogen from renewable net‐zero carbon sources using renewable energies. In this context, the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction can be boosted by replacing the oxygen evolution reaction with the oxidation of small organic molecules, such as ethylene glycol (EG). EG is a particularly interesting organic liquid with two hydroxyl groups that can be transformed into a variety of C1 and C2 chemicals, depending on the catalyst and reaction conditions. Here, a catalyst is demonstrated for the selective EG oxidation reaction (EGOR) to formate on nickel selenide. The catalyst nanoparticle (NP) morphology and crystallographic phase are tuned to maximize its performance. The optimized NiS electrocatalyst requires just 1.395 V to drive a current density of 50 mA cm−2 in 1 m potassium hydroxide (KOH) and 1 m EG. A combination of in situ electrochemical infrared absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) to monitor the electrocatalytic process and ex situ analysis of the electrolyte composition shows the main EGOR product is formate, with a Faradaic efficiency above 80%. Additionally, C2 chemicals such as glycolate and oxalate are detected and quantified as minor products. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the reaction process show the glycol‐to‐oxalate pathway to be favored via the glycolate formation, where the CC bond is broken and further electro‐oxidized to formate.
Supercapacitors (SCs) have been widely considered as they are competitive power sources for energy storage. Herein, we fabricated high-quality iron cobalt sulfide nanoparticles encapsulated on a N-doped graphene nanosheet (FeCoS 2 /NG) composite with a core−shell structure as an advanced positive electrode material for SCs by employing a simple, cost-effective, and scalable hydrothermal process. The thin NG shell-encapsulated FeCoS 2 core interconnects with each other, which shortens the length of the ion diffusion path between the electrode and electrolyte, resulting in superior electrochemical performance. Remarkably, the FeCoS 2 /NG composite exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 1420 F g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 , an outstanding rate capability of 898 F g −1 at 30 A g −1 , and exceptional cycle life with 85.1% retention of its initial capacitance after 10,000 consecutive cycles. Notably, the fabricated asymmetric SCs of FeCoS 2 /NG//NG achieved an excellent energy density of 79.3 W h kg −1 at a power density of 804 W kg −1 and outstanding cycle stability (capacitance retention of 90.2% after 10,000 consecutive cycles). The prominent property of the FeCoS 2 /NG electrode provides an effective route in the application of energy storage.
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